Attorney General

Sexual Offences: Prosecutions

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to ensure that the recommendation by Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate in its Thematic Review of the CPS Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Units that all lawyers working at Rape and Serious Sexual Offences units undergo refresher training is implemented.

Lord Keen of Elie: Ensuring that staff have the tools and skills necessary to prosecute effectively is a CPS priority. A detailed CPS/Police Joint National Rape Action Plan was published in June 2014 which identified a programme of training activity to deliver improvements in investigation and prosecution outcomes. This extensive programme, consisting of a range of face to face specialist training, is currently underway. The programme includes refresher training for all specialist prosecutors undertaking rape and serious sexual offence casework which will be delivered during 2016.

Sexual Offences: Prosecutions

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take in the light of the finding by Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate in its Thematic Review of the CPS Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Units that there are inconsistencies in the level of care provided to rape and sexual assault victims by Rape and Serious Sexual Offences units.

Lord Keen of Elie: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is continually committed to improving the prosecution of rape and serious sexual offences and the quality of the service the CPS provides to victims of these serious crimes. The Thematic Review acknowledges that the CPS has undertaken a considerable amount of work to prioritise the improvement of rape prosecutions and endorses the use of teams of specialist prosecutors to handle all rape and serious sexual offences cases. Ensuring the best possible service is provided to victims will continue to be at the heart of CPS improvement activity.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Saudi Arabia: Arms Trade

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the response made by human rights groups to figures released by the UK that it sold Saudi Arabia over £1 billion of weapons and air-to-air missiles between July and September 2015.

Lord Maude of Horsham: The UK operates one of the most rigorous and transparent export control regimes in the world. No licence would be issued if to do so would contravene the UK's strict export control criteria. In this case a single licence accounted for 90% of the total value of potential exports authorised by the licences. This was for a long-term contract for the delivery of a new air-to-air munitions capability over a number of years [and is unconnected to current operations by the Royal Saudi Air Force in Yemen. Licences granted in a given period do not equate to goods shipped The Department for Business (BIS) export licensing statistics only indicate the number and value of licences granted in a specified period, not the value of actual exports. Licences are usually valid for up to two years and the value of the licence therefore represents an estimate of future export value. As such, the value of licences granted in any one quarter will generally not be the same as the value of goods actually exported and does not provide an indication of goods shipped.

Living Wage

Baroness Kramer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total cost of the advertising campaign for the National Living Wage.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The total budget allocated for the National Living Wage advertising campaign is £4.95 million. The campaign will run to the end of April and we expect to come in under budget. The Government’s new National Living Wage is a step up for working people, so it is important workers know their rights and that employers pay the new £7.20 from April 1 this year. Britain deserves a pay rise and as a One Nation Government we are making sure it gets one. The campaign will tell people about their entitlements and is targeted at employers, and workers currently earning the National Minimum Wage.

Living Wage

Baroness Kramer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much is being spent on (1) billboards and poster sites, (2) television and radio advertising, (3) digital advertising, and (4) other forms of advertising, for the National Living Wage campaign.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The total budget allocated for the National Living Wage advertising campaign is £4.95 million. The campaign will run until the end of April and we expect to come in under budget. A breakdown of the anticipated costs for the campaign advertising can be found in the table below: Poster advertising £751,612.69TV and video on demand (VOD) £1,730,387.70Social media advertising £354,000Digital display advertising and Pay per click (PPC) £520,000Newspaper/magazine advertising £250,000Radio £299,826  The Government’s new National Living Wage is a step up for working people, so it is important workers know their rights and that employers pay the new £7.20 from April 1 this year. Britain deserves a pay rise and as a One Nation Government we are making sure it gets one. The campaign will tell people about their entitlements and is targeted at employers, and workers currently earning the National Minimum Wage.

Living Wage

Baroness Kramer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of the billboards and other poster sites used in the National Living Wage campaign are (1) in London, and (2) in each other region of the UK.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: 48 sheets, 6 sheet bus stop posters, and bus interior panels are being used in the National Living Wage campaign. The sites are selected based on a combination of population data, poster site availability, and analysis of data showing regions where recipients of the NLW are expected to be highest. The percentage of 48 sheets and 6 sheet bus stop posters booked in London is 17%. The percentage of 48 sheets and 6 sheet bus stop posters booked across the UK is:Northern Ireland 7%; Scotland 15%; Wales 4%; England 74% The percentage of bus interior panels across the UK (not available in NI) is:Scotland 10%; Wales 2%; England 87% The Government’s new National Living Wage is a step up for working people, so it is important workers know their rights and that employers pay the new £7.20 from April 1 this year. Britain deserves a pay rise and as a One Nation Government we are making sure it gets one. The campaign will tell people about their entitlements and is targeted at employers, and workers currently earning the National Minimum Wage.

Students: Prescriptions

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effect of changes to maintenance grants on low-income students' ability to afford prescription charges.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: An Equality Analysis of changes to the support package for full-time students in 2016/17 was published on the GOV.UK website on 3 December 2015. No specific assessment was made of prescription costs, but this reform provides more up-front support for living costs.

Ministry of Defence

Type 45 Destroyers

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will launch an independent inquiry into the reported power failures on Type 45 destroyers, and the case for increasing their power capacity by 50 per cent.

Earl Howe: There is currently no plan to launch an independent inquiry into the reported power failures on Type 45 destroyers or the case for increasing their power capacity.As announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we have committed to investing in the necessary improvements in the Type 45 power and propulsion systems to address issues and ensure future capability requirements can be met. Decisions will, of course, be fully scrutinised at each of the formal procurement investment decision points as the programme progresses.

Type 45 Destroyers

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Type 45 destroyers will have additional generating capacity installed, and what is the estimated cost of that work.

Earl Howe: The current planning assumption is that all six ships in the class will have additional generating capacity installed. The total cost of implementing the diesel generator upgrade will be determined at the main investment decision.I am withholding details of our current cost estimates as premature disclosure of this information could prejudice the commercial interests of the Department.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Lead: Ammunition

Lord Krebs: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the levels of compliance with the Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (England) Regulations 1999, as amended, and the effectiveness of those Regulations in reducing lead poisoning of waterbirds.

Lord Krebs: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether there is a widespread risk of lead poisoning in migratory waterbirds resulting from the use of lead ammunition, for the purpose of interpreting the Guidelines to Resolution 11.15, Preventing Poisoning of Migratory Birds, agreed at the Eleventh Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Through the Environmental Protection (Restriction on Use of Lead Shot) (England) Regulations 1999, the use of lead shot ammunition is restricted to protect waterfowl from lead poisoning. Its use is banned on all foreshores, certain Sites of Special Scientific Interest and for the shooting of all ducks and geese, coot and moorhen. The supply of lead weights for fishing is also prohibited. One recent piece of research suggests compliance with the Regulations is relatively low with around 70% of wild duck carcasses bought from game dealers in England having been shot with lead ammunition. We will continue to look at how the Lead Shot Regulations can be better implemented.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Baroness Quin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect all valid claims from farmers in 2015 to the Rural Payments Agency to be paid.

Baroness Quin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure timely and effective processing of Rural Payments Agency payments to farmers in 2016.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The 2015 Basic Payment Scheme payment window runs between December 2015 and June 2016. As of the end of January the Rural Payments Agency had paid around 66,800 farmers approximately £1 billion. The Rural Payments Agency is focused on paying the remainder as promptly as possible. 2015 was the first year of the new complex Common Agricultural Policy. The Rural Payments Agency anticipates improvements on payment performance for the 2016 Basic Payment Scheme.

Rural Payments Agency

Lord Willoughby de Broke: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Payments Agency will receive a bonus payment this year.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Senior Civil Servants who are moderated as top performers at the end of the performance management year are eligible to receive a bonus payment.The performance management year for the SCS runs from 1 April to 31 March. Performance markings for 2015/16 will be determined in May 2016. Until this time, we will not know which Senior Civil Servants will receive a payment.The government publishes information on the job titles and pay grades of senior civil servants on a twice yearly basis.

Home Office

Human Trafficking: Children

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Eurostar about child trafficking.

Lord Bates: The UK Government takes child trafficking extremely seriously. All Border Force officers at the Eurostar ports in the UK France and Belgium have received training in keeping children safe and all operational processes involving children comply with requirements as set out in the Children and Young Persons Act. Border Force and Eurostar have daily contact on operational matters. When passengers are identified by Border Force officers as potential victims of trafficking, immediate action is taken to safeguard the individual by following Home Office guidance on the treatment of the victims of trafficking. Border Force collects data on these cases in order to notify the Human Trafficking Centre. Contact is also made with Camden Social Services Safeguarding Team as soon as possible in order to establish safe care of the child. Eurostar has its own policy on unaccompanied children travelling on its services which can be found on the internet at: http://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-info/travel-planning/accessibility#unaccompanied_childrenBorder Force has not provided training to French border officials on UK child trafficking patterns. All cases of suspected trafficking detected by the French border officials at St Pancras are handed to the BTP to action. In France and Belgium any concerns Border Force officers have about vulnerable children attempting to travel to the UK would be referred to the French and Belgian frontier control authorities. The Home Office has not had any discussions with Patina Rail about a proposed new routing between St Pancras and Ashford.



Eurostar Policy - Unaccompanied Children 
(PDF Document, 898.97 KB)




Eurostar Policy - Special Travel Needs 
(PDF Document, 314.7 KB)

Asylum

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether, were the UK to leave the EU, they would be obliged to consider the case of an applicant for asylum who was known to have arrived directly from a safe country; and if so, as a result of which treaty or instrument.

Lord Bates: EU negotiations are ongoing and the UK is engaging with European partners to reach a positive outcome.The Government firmly supports the well-established principle that those seeking international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach, a principle reflected within the Dublin Regulation.We are cooperating fully with the EU Commission’s review of the Dublin Regulation and will continue to make the case that its long – established principles should continue to be the basis for any future regulation.

HM Treasury

UK Membership of EU

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the analysis by Credit Suisse that Britain leaving the EU could cause a snap recession and reduce GDP by up to two per cent.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain - so we can get a better deal for our country and secure our future. We are confident that the right agreement can be reached. The Government notes wider evidence on an ongoing basis.